We constantly have new devices popping up in our inventory that are actually duplicates of devices already entered. Since we use DHCP, people's IP addresses change all the time and Spiceworks just thinks it's a new device connected to the network.

So when I print an inventory report for our business manager, we have a crap load of extra devices.

If the scan is completing properly & the correct credentials are used then it should just note that the device has changed IP address. I would check your scan settings & resolve any scan errors. If this is still the case when all items are being scanned properly then your database may be corrupt. What version of spiceworks are you running?

To see if database corruption is the problem, try installing spiceworks on a test machine with a completely clean install, set up some small test scans in areas you know you currently have this problem & see if it is still the case. If your settings are the same but results are different [i.e. no more duplicates] you can try importing your production database into the test server to see if you then get the problems reoccoring. See this how-to on moving your installation for help with this.

Let us know what you turn up, or if you see anything else that looks 'funky'

I get the impression from the OP that these are internal machines, not external devices / devices not normally on the network. The agent is NOT intended to be used on the network, at least not on all machines, just the troublesome ones & those that go off site regularly / for long times.

@Brendan: Can the new agent be used on internal network devices? If I could install the agent on all our devices, Spiceworks would never get confused once the IP address changes. Could that be a solution?

SW also resolves on more than just the IP address. Things like the Serial number and device name as well. As Rob mentioned, check for any scan issues being reported, and see if you can tell if the machine was definitely on when the scan occurred.

What we want to avoid with installations of the agent on local networks is creating a chatty network environment with multiple agents attempting to check in to the db (which has a limit on simultaneous connections (I don't know the value offhand)) along with all the other network traffic.

I think Rob's assessment above is a good way of looking at it - not all the machines, just the remote ones and maybe the occasional "problem child."

Hope this helps!

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